Hotel Monte del Mago Alajuela

... that I have been here, I have entertained the kids for 4 hours a day and provided them with love and attention. I brought sunshine to their gloomy situations and helped them enjoy their days. Do I think I made a lifelong impact on these children? No. But, I am confident that for at least the last three weeks, I have made a difference in their lives. That is good enough for me!
In addition to ...

... friensd and I want to try it out one night because they're supposed to be like the ones at home. Also, what I'm learning in class is that the US and Costa Rican health care systems are quite different...Costa Rica actually beats the US, statistically and can insure more or less 90% of its population opposed to the US. We've been learning a lot about the health care system structures and the components - it's really interesting.

... of wild life that we passed. After this we saw a video on the sloths at the refuge and then we were introduced to Millie - one of the resident sloths. The resemblance was uncanny. The next day we went back to San Jose by bus, we got the 7:30am bus as we figured most backpackers would be too hung-over to travel from the night before. We were right; the bus was less than half full. Just before boarding the bus we were having coffee in a local café and we saw the hostel ...

... fun to learn. Like about the conflicts and problems leading up to the abolition of the army in 1948. Anyways, I enjoyed that, and I got some pictures of the latrines there, the jail cell for reprimanding bad soldiers, and the peepholes for shooting people and surveying the city. After all this it was time for me to head back to the hotel for ...

Endlich bin ich in Alajuela angekommen. Lisa ist noch mit mir zum Flughafen gefahren (Claudi, gehts dir wieder gut? ;) ) und nach langem, langem Anstehen - das Computersystem hat Mist gebaut - gings dann endlich los. In einer viel zu kleinen Maschine. Anstatt einen Gangplatz, gabs dann nen Fensterplatz und mit Rumlaufen ging auch nicht, denn der Gang stand immer voll mit etwas ( z.B. Leute, die auf die ...

... had an allergic reaction. Must have been right because she took the pills and now she is better. We went to a very nice and huge park run by the city that offers all kinds of free activities for families...horseback riding, zipline, sports, etc. We had an overpriced lunch (about 3.50 each) with delicious guayaba juice. We discovered we could get wireless in a little food court near out hostel, so were able to write some emails. All in all it was a good (though expensive) day.

... but nobody else was even attempting to break things up. I legged it up to the party area to look for the boss but there seemed to be nobody in charge. A few more guys from the party went downstairs but all they did was pile into the ruck - we later realised that half of them were hostel staff. I was afraid the backpacker was going to be killed - he was on the floor and the Ticos were all kicking him as hard as they could. One of the girls called ...

... at the beach already! Weekend before last I went to the Museo de Arte y Deseño Contemporaneo and the Teatro Nacional with a sweet girl from Quebec to see a modern dance performance. I enjoyed it but think I like to see the musical comedies more. Also managed to purchase a hammock from the Mercado Central and cook dinner for some people with food I bought from the market. Also the day I left my atm card in the machine ...

... that I was not going to get any sleep here and I really needed some. I checked out the line for the shower and that wasnt as important as sleep. I went to the manager on duty and asked if he knew another place to go. There was another hostel nearby....but that seemed to be the same deal. I needed food. I needed sleep and my yoga buzz was fading away. Another guy suggested the other dorm room where he was staying because there was an old lady staying there. I checked it out and ...

... her nice cabin at a place called Hotel Fonda Vela. It was surrounded by lush forest and green fields. I left my bags in her room, and then we walked in to town. Heading down a stone path, we were assaulted by angry black ants. I kicked off my sandals and ran to the grass, as they seemed to be only on the path. I watched as the ants angrily attacked my shoes, then shook them off.

Once in town, we wandered through a couple minimarkets, coffeehouses, and galleries. The town was ...